Freedom?
by fidofia
Summary: Chell has done it. She has escaped from Aperture. Unfortunately GLaDOS has other plans. She'll need to get 5 new test subjects to escape for real. An easy feat? She seems to think so, but will some new faces of old enemies bring her closer to death than she's ever been?
1. Hidden Truths

Chell was finally free.

Finally after all her hardship and sacrifice she was out. The sun beamed down on her, happy for her success.

For all the betrayal she had in the last few days, at least there was some justice in the world. Chell honestly thought that GLaDOS was tricking her. Maybe psychotic AIs could change after all.

Companion cube in hand, long fall boots on her feet, Chell took her first steps out of Aperture, out of all the craziness and into humanity.

She was doing it! She was really doing it she was out into the free world and then she hit her head.

Huh, a glass panel? She hadn't seen that before, she tried walking around it and was met by another glass panel.

In desperation she walked to the right of where the other two panels were and found herself getting stopped by yet another glass panel.

Panicking, she aimlessly ran around, only to find more glass panels blocking her path.

What was happening? Was this GlaDOS's doing?

Then, the wheat fields outside the glass split into several panels with "wheat" stuck on in tufts. The "sun" flickered and went out, only being replaced by unseen artificial lighting. Blue sky and white puffy clouds were replaced by sterile white walls.

"_You really didn't think it would be that easy did you? Oh wow, you really must have brain damage!" _A smug, mechanical voice emanated from all around.

Chell looked frustratedly around the room, her anger flaring.

For a moment there she had trusted her, had actually thought she'd cared about her. It was always the same! Anyone she had ever known had always turned around and stabbed her in the back and she knew next to no one. Two to be precise. GLaDOS and... him.

She didn't like to think about him because, opposed to GLaDOS, he was the most human robot she'd ever met and yet he still betrayed her. It made her heart throb to think about it. Even if she'd only known him for a day or two, Chell became attached to objects and robots obsessively, because that was all she knew.

The panels shifting under her feet brought her back to reality.

"_Look, If you were worried that I'd make you test, rest assured, I have the Cooperative Testing Initiative for that, but I do have a **special** job for you."_

A panel came down on Chell's head and she saw nothing else.

* * *

><p>Chell woke, dazed and confused, lying on a foreign bed, companion cube next to her. How long had she been asleep?<p>

"_Don't worry you have only been out for an hour... or five. You haven't gained **that** many more pounds," _The AI said, as if she were reading her mind.

Only just noticing she was there, Chell drowsily turned around to face the massive construct and jumped back in fright as she was met by a worried looking orange optic.

"_Orange stay away from her, she is fine, no thanks to your incompetently average surgery."_

Huh surgery? At this Chell's head perked up. Chell gave GLaDOS a death stare. What had she done to her?

She became aware of a damp sensation at the back of her head, only then realising that the bed was covered in blood. Her own blood. She put her hand to her head and felt wires going into her skull, blood leaking out from where the two bots had obviously made mistakes.

"_It's an advanced microchip, used for tracking and communicating. It functions as a camera and is also used for euthanising organic human material," _She said smugly.

GLaDOS was going to kill her? Then why go to all the trouble of implanting a chip in her head.

_I can hear you, you know. And no, I am not going to kill you... yet, I have use of you still._

Chell fell off the bed in fright. She could hear her?

She had never talked the first time she tested, before she had defeated GLaDOS. She remembered thinking "Why should she give it the satisfaction?" But when she awoke from cryogenic sleep after she "killed" her, she found she couldn't speak at all!

_Fascinating, and by the way I am not an "it". I am too superior to be called an "it", by someone insignificantly unimportant to science like you._

Chell grimaced. She couldn't get used to her being in her head.

_**What do you want from me?**_ Chell thought as hard as she could.

"_Look,"_ GLaDOS said verbally, _"The testing bots are amusing, but there is nothing that can really replace human testing. I am willing to let you go, if you can find me more test subjects."_

**W-wait, if she wanted more test subjects that means... **

Chell put two and two together.

**You're letting me go? To find more subjects?**

"_I know what's going on in that murderous mind of yours and no, there's no escape. If you run I will kill you with that microchip I implanted in your skull. You have a month to gather at least five human subjects."_

A panel started rising under Chell's feet.

"_I suppose it's not as graceful as that pitiful opera," A small chuckle, "But I'm sure you'll make do, you monster."_

As the chassis went out of view, the panel all of a sudden started to go faster, making Chell trip over her long fall boots.

She held her companion cube tight to her chest, a lump in her throat forming.

The opera the turrets had sung to her before was beautiful. Why that of all things, have to be a lie?

The trip to the surface was short, but rough. It was constantly bumpy and, as it was such a small room, she had trouble not hitting her head on the walls.

Finally the platform broke through the soil of the overworld, debris and dirt raining down on Chell, hitting and wounding her. The panel shuddered and stopped.

After the cloud of dust had cleared, Chell inspected her injuries.

**Nothing too bad... **She decided.

From what she could see, she was in some sort of dump filled with electronic devices and old machinery. There was a mechanical smell in the air and clouds of smog filled the sky with a brownish tint.

Companion cube in hand, Chell walked in the general direction of North, following her instincts.

**Well, this oughta be fun...**

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN**_

_**Hey Fido here with my first attempt at a multi-chaptered story!**_

_**Don't know about the Half-Life universe, so im just gonna use what comes out of my head for this. **_

_**I promised myself I would never write a humanised core fic but I kinda am. Well, technically it's not the cores themselves but... Oh just wait for the next chapter and it will be explained.**_

_**Sorry if this is like another fic, I hadn't checked.**_

_**I don't know how quickly I will update this.**_

_**Goodnight fanfiction community...**_


	2. Too Many Questions

Exhausted, dehydrated. Both of these were correct, but the only thing Chell was feeling in her heart was exhilaration and freedom.

Sure she still had to get GLaDOS the five test subjects, but after that she would be free! But even she knew that sounded selfish,

sacrificing five lives for her own freedom. But what did it matter to her? According to GLaDOS and _him_ she was a fat, murderous, monster-of-a-woman, dangerous, mute lunatic. She had killed GLaDOS twice and sent a robot to live in a fate she thought to be worse than death, so what was so bad about this?

**Concentrate **Chell told herself as she brought herself back to reality.

She looked around and realised the surroundings were changing and she was no longer in a mechanical Aperture dump, she was surrounded by grass. Brown smog gave way to a cheerful blue. The sun was even more beautiful than she ever imagined. It was like a larger version of those beautiful stars she had seen when the moon portal opened, although she had never been able to really appreciate them while she was practically suffocating.

The further she walked the steeper it got, and with the companion cube in her hands, the more tired she got. She refused to let it go though. The companion cube had been her only true friend throughout all of this and she hadn't had any other friend since... Well, never actually because all she could remember was waking up in Aperture for the first time.

She hoped this was the right way. What if there weren't any humans here? What if there weren't any humans left in the world?

But Chell told herself that she would keep on going even if it killed her, which if she failed, it would.

She was almost at the top of the hill. A few more steps and...

Civilisation!

About a kilometre away was a town. It looked to only hold about 2000. She couldn't see it too well from where she was standing though

Smiling, Chell hugged her companion cube and with the bright sun reflecting off of it, it looked happy too. She would be free soon.

She ran down the hill, her long fall boots cushioning her weight, the wind whipping her hair around.

Victory! Victory would be hers, she bathed in happiness as she reached the bottom.

The town was a small but build up, urbanised town. It had many tall flats, graffiti adorning most of them. A small shopping center, feeble brick walls seemingly run down from all the years in service. Few people walked the streets.

With a look of recognition on her face, she walked through the small town. She didn't recognise the town itself but all the landmarks looked familiar. She saw street signs, trash cans vending machines and graffiti and knew what they were, what they meant, their purpose. How did she know this? None of this was in Aperture.

Chell stopped on the dirty pavement near the shopping mall and looked around. Distracted by the urban scenery, Chell almost didn't notice when a small child walked up to her.

"H-hello," The girl said nervously.

Chell's head turned around to face the girl. She smiled sheepishly and waved back.

"Uh mommy said I shouldn't talk to big people in orange like you. Uhm but I- My mommy I-I can't find her!" The girl sobbed

How was she supposed to respond? And what did she mean people in orange? Where there others?

**Well, I guess I should find her mom...?**

Before she could even take one step though, a woman sprinted to where they where standing. There was a look of terror and panic on her face. Was something important happening?

"Mommy!" The little girl said gleefully.

**Mommy?**

"MINDY! Get away from her!" Her mother screamed at her pulling at her arm. She turned to Chell, "Get your hands off my daughter you filthy beast. Aperture scum!"

She grabbed her daughter by the wrist and ran as if it would be the end of the world if she didn't, as if she would hurt them, as if she were a monster.

She honestly didn't blame her but she was still confused as to why she reacted as she did.

How many more people from Aperture were there here? And what did they do to make people this upset?

As she walked on the pavement she avoided all the disgusted and frightened stares people gave her.

**How can I get them to go anywhere with me if they don't trust me from the start?**

So many questions ran through her head. How could she get people to go with her to Aperture? Why did they hate orange-clad test subjects so much? Where was she going to sleep tonight?

Suddenly she heard an all too familiar voice coming from a heavily graffitied general store on her left.

"But look I-Im just trying to feed my bloody family and I'm offering you money and I can't help but notice that you're not giving me the food that I just asked for aaan- Wait what are you... What are you doing?" A very familiar British voice emanated.

"I don't want no Aperture scum ruining my store's reputation!" Replied a disembodied male voice in the store.

A crashing noise came from inside then followed by a pained moan.

Chell, in a state of absolute shock tried to make out what was happening.

**Him!...British...Wheatley...Why?...B-but no... He... Space...Family...Money?...Food...Eating...Wheatley?...**

**Impossible...Robotic...Is he hurt?... It's not like I care...**

As her thoughts became more coherent she decided that she would need to go in there to check on him.

What the hell was going on here?

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

Hey guys! Thankyou for reading my fic so far I really appreciate it! A special shoutout to Topaz18 and FTWeepingbell who motivated me to write this new chapter.

Please I don't ask for much of your time but if you get the chance please review. It will make me update twice as fast honestly! :D Thanks for reading!


	3. Companions New and Old

**A/N**

Hey guys thank you for all your nice reviews. I want to thank everyone who has actually read this, but I will say thank you specifically to Marcus Krassus, Sullyz, Topaz18(again ;D) and FTWeepingbell(Who really shouldn't be writing personal reviews :D PS sorry for spoiling the ending for you but I changed it now anyway)

Okies, on with the story suuuu!

* * *

><p>Chell peered around the wall, worried about what she may find through the window on the other side. She was met by glass but she couldn't see anything through it thanks to dust and a large crack snaking out in all different directions like a spider web.<p>

**Well I have to go inside now I guess...**

Her legs felt numb. She did not want to go into that store. For one, _he _was in there and plus, the man in there with him didn't sound like the kind of guy who would give her a lollipop and send her on her merry way.

She knew she needed to go in there though, otherwise she would never know the truth.

She picked up the companion cube from its place right next to her leg and gripped it tightly.

Nervous but determined she took a step closer to the door of the small store, noticing the mechanical pink neon sign reading 'General Store', The letter 'O' flashing dubiously.

Realising she was only distracting herself, she wrapped her right hand around the doorknob. Her hand felt so empty without the weight of the portal gun around it. What had happened to her portal gun anyway? It was probably sucked through that portal to the moon like everything else that was in the room.

**Concentrate! It's a simple task, opening this door!**

She finally managed to push her hand down on the knob and open the door a tiny bit. She put her eye to the opened slit of the door but couldn't see anything. The view of the counter was blocked by rows of shelves covered in various items.

She stopped for a moment and wondered if she should go in.

**It's important! I have to try...**

She pushed the door to its full extent and she cringed as it made a loud creaking noise that echoed around the lonely walls off the store, alerting whoever was in here of her presence.

She walked up to the shelf that was previously blocking her view and half-heartedly looked at the cheap products they had on display.

She peered around the shelf nervously, her grey eyes reflecting silver in the fluorescent light.

To her dismay, the owner came through the small door behind the counter. He looked gruff with short dark hair and a arrogant smirk on his face.

She pulled her head away quickly hoping that he hadn't seen her, but she was too late.

"Aww is the Aperture scum coming to save her little boyfriend?"

Chell's blood went as cold as ice. She stiffened as she heard him coming closer.

"Well too bad, I already finished him off. Now, you're gonna go down too," Chell heard him loading a gun, "I don't need you freaks ruining my store's or this town's reputation. Oh, and if you think I'm scared of you, then think again."

It was now or never. Chell got ready to strike.

"You all think you're so clever don't you? Going around kidnapping all those innocent people, you really have nothing better to do, do you? Well I'm going to put a stop to it. It all ends right now."

At that moment she flew around the corner, picking up her companion cube to counter the bullets flying towards her head.

With all of her upper arm strength she hoisted her companion cube in the air, and launched it at his head, all of its weight hitting his head with impressive accuracy.

He fell under the bulkiness of the cube and his eyes rolled back into his head. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Chell privately bathed in her victory before remembering why she came in here in the first place. But before she could bring herself to look around she remembered something the store owner had said. Kidnapping innocent people? Had GLaDOS sent anyone else to find subjects before her? Had she sent _him? _She laughed at that ridiculous thought. How could a metal ball even-

A loud groan interrupted her train of thoughts. It wasn't the unconscious man in front of her, that was for sure. It must have been _him_.

She rounded the corner near the counter and searched the ground for a metallic ball, but what she saw instead shocked her.

Lying on the floor was a man clad with an orange jumpsuit and wires running through his hair. He would have been a completely normal test subject if it weren't for his hair. Was blue a natural hair colour? She didn't think so...

She looked around some more hoping to find that damn metal ball but she gave up hope after she heard him emit another loud moaning noise using the same accent.

It couldn't be him. She refused to believe it, but all the evidence was pointing towards the simple fact. This was him. This was Wheatley.

**It doesn't make sense! One day ago he was a robot in space and now he's a human on Earth!**

She had to do something. She could run, but she would be sure to see him again in the future.

His eyes flickered open and he stumbled to his feet slowly, not noticing Chell until it was too late. She had already shoved him against the wall forcefully.

"Ahhh! Please don't hurt me!" His eyes were squeezed shut in fear "Uhh money! Do you want my money? I mean I don't have much cash but I'm sure that-"

His azure coloured eyes opened suddenly, his expression turning into one of recognition and then one of shock.

Chell stiffened and released her grip. He had recognised her.

Wheatley then turned the tables on her and gripped her forearms tightly.

Chell stopped and waited for his response.

"Hey! You're from Aperture, Aren't you!"

Chell's face went blank, obviously underwhelmed by the previous statement. He didn't recognise her? It had only been a freaking day and he had forgotten all the betrayal, hurt, disappointment and broken heartedness.

**How could he?**

While her mind was bringing up shameful memories of the past few days, his mind was racing.

Another person from Aperture! This was brilliant!

Over-excitedly he dragged Chell out of the store showing feats of extreme strength. Chell only just managed to grasp her cube as she was forcefully yanked out of the shop door.

He ran down the street holding Chell's wrist in a tight grip, narrowly missing the citizens walking along the street.

Meanwhile Chell felt like her hand was about to be ripped off, with him dragging her.

They rounded a corner into an shady backstreet. At the end of it was a road leading just out of town into thick forest.

He was leading her into a shabby, run down car. Brown paint was peeling at the edges, one of the windows was cracked and was that masking tape holding the bonnet on?

Chell didn't get time to think as "Wheatley" was practically pushing her into the backseat.

**It could be a trap! Why should I trust him?**

But Chell couldn't stop the curiosity growing in her mind. She had the power to run away but she didn't. Instead she gingerly stepped inside the car, sitting on the torn fabric seat covers.

He sat down too and within seconds they were speeding down the rocky, uneven road.

Chell wished the seatbelts hadn't decayed long ago otherwise she would have been giving it a death grip.

"I just want to let you know that it's bloody brilliant that you're here!" He shouted over the blaring noise of the car engine.

"The name's Mike by the way!"

* * *

><p>I just realised I haven't disclaimed this yet.<p>

Ok so if you're in later chapters and your all like

"Wow this story is great. Saaaay... Does this lady happen to own the rights to VALVe, Portal, Chell, all the other characters and combustible lemons?"

I would be all like "No way man! If you look in Chapter 3 then you will see that I don't own the rights to VALVe, Portal, Chell, all the other characters and combustible lemons."

The next chapter will be up soon

-Fido :D


	4. The Gang

Who knew Wheatley could be _that_ bad at driving? Chell certainly didn't, as they had narrowly missed five trees so far, each leaving Chell slightly traumatised.

Chell refrained from thinking of him as 'Mike'. How stupid did he think she was? This was obviously some sort of terribly laid trap.

As the car had descended into the forest area, 'Mike' had been constantly going off-road, sometimes in the path of a tree.

Suddenly, the car stopped for some reason. Chell looked out the window, only to find there was no more road.

**A dead end?**

'Mike', not threatened by the sudden lack of road started to steer the car right.

"Hold on!" He cried over the blaring sound of the old engine, speaking for the first time in a while, "It's going to get a bit... uh bumpy from here!

With that he accelerated and the car went crashing through the undergrowth.

Chell held on for dear life and shut her eyes as he swerved around several incoming trees, missing them by a mere inch.

Unexpectedly, the car came to a halt.

Chell got brave and opened her eyes to find that she was in fact still alive.

She looked out the dusty window to find that there was a large two storey brick house with thick leafy vines protruding from the cracks.

"Home sweet home!" He smiled turning to Chell, dimples forming at his cheeks.

This was Chell's first good look at him. He was skinny, almost unnaturally so. He was also pretty short just like her, being only a few centimetres taller.

"Err I'll admit, you staring at me for ten consecutive seconds without blinking is _really_ starting to creep me out," He gave a nervous chuckle, flicking his dark blue hair off his pale face.

Chell blinked. Had she really been staring that long?

"Never mind. Here follow me and I'll show you the gang!"

She reminded herself that this was most probably a trap and that she would have to stay on her toes.

They both got out of the car and walked towards the house. Mike lead her through the rusted front gate and through the old wooden door.

The first room was some kind of small dining room with a large wood chipped table in the center.

"Oi guys look who I've found!" He yelled over-excitedly, his British accent echoing around the brick walls.

A voice came from the room across, "Have ya finally found someone dumber than you? Well sorry to break it to ya pal but-"

A tall man with an Aperture logo on his identical orange jumpsuit walked into the room. He was similar to 'Mike', except that his hair was slicked back and green, a cowboy hat covering the majority of it.

His witty comeback was stopped with the sight of Chell's face.

"Well, hellooo!" He said walking up to Chell and taking off his ridiculous hat in a flirtatious manner, revealing the same wires that both she and 'Mike' had, " The name's Richard, but a pretty lady like you can call me Rick," He winked.

"Fact: everyone calls you Rick."

A man with dark pink hair was standing in the same doorway, Rick had come out of just a second ago. His entire head was covered in wires, unlike Chell and the two boys, who only had a few.

"Fact: My name is Craig. Craig is the best name," He said pushing his glasses up to his nose.

"Yeah whatever, four-eyes," Rick snarled, putting his hat back on,

"Hey kids get on down here!" He yelled towards the staircase.

"Oooh what is it? Is it exciting?"

"Grrr rarrr arghhhh!"

Two children emerged from the staircase, a boy with flaming red hair and a girl with short orange hair, both from Aperture.

The orange haired little girl, only being around eight or nine years old, ran up to Chell excitedly, her shoulder-length wavy hair and wires bobbing up and down.

"Who are _you_? Where did you come from? Oh, why are you wearing an Aperture jumpsuit? Are you from Aperture? I'm Kitty what's your name?" Before Chell could do anything at all, the little red-haired boy piped up.

"Grr rarr arggghh grrrar, rrr?" He growled as though it made sense.

"You're right Paul where _is _E.T.?" The girl looked around curiously and then yelled up to the same stairs they had just come down, "E.T.! Can you guess who we found?"

"Ooh I know, I know... Space cops, in space! The space cops coming to take us to space! Send us to space jail! I'm guilty! Guilty, of not being in space! We need a space trial! In SPAAAAAAAAAAACE!" A boy with messy yellow hair ran down the stairs screaming at the top of his lungs and his eyes darted quickly around the room.

"Fact: Space cannot be in this room. It is a lady from Aperture."

"Oh, just a lady. Wait, space lady? Lady taking me to space in a space ship. Bup bup bup, going to space!"

Chell looked around at all the coloured humans in front of her. This was all just too overwhelming! The cores were humans! Some of them she had even incinerated but now they had somehow magically been transformed into organic beings! But wait, where was the purple eyed silent core and the blue cake one?

She wasn't even sure if this was a trap or not any more. What was going on?

"OK, now that we're all here, I guess it's time to get down to business. Uh...First, what's your name?" Mike asked.

**How am I going to explain this?**

Chell pointed to herself then shook her head and pointed to her lips, signalling to them that she couldn't speak.

"Uhhhh let me see...You? Yep definitely got that part... You... don't... have a mouth? Haha you can't fool me with that love! I can see your mouth right there!" He smiled smugly, folding his arms around his chest, "Uh, I'll admit I'm pretty clever if I do say so myself."

Chell mentally face palmed herself.

"No, you little half-witted moron! The lady's sayin' she can't speak!" The green-haired man grabbed something from the large table. "Here ya go honey," He held out his hand to reveal paper and a pen and Chell reluctantly took it.

_**My name is Chell**_ she wrote.

She reached out to give the paper to Rick, when Mike snatched it out of her hands, a look of distaste on his face because of the previous statement from Rick.

He read it quietly, "Well it's nice to meet you Chell," He said turning back to his normally eager demeanour and handing the paper back to her, "So you were a test subject?"

Chell nodded.

"I suppose you think we're test subjects too, what with the orange jumpsuits and all that, but we're not. We uh all used to be employees well except for the kids of course, who are... Well, we'll explain all the details later but for now we're just going to ask you a few questions. So how exactly did you escape?"

Chell was stumped. Employees? She didn't think so...

_**You're lying, you aren't employees. You were robots.**_

Rick and Mike looked at each other guiltily.

Rick adjusted his hat nervously, "Whelp, I guess we oughta tell you _now_ then."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN**_

**Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. I have been pretty busy, but I should update sooner thanks to the holidays.**

**I was going to add the explanation in with this chapter, but that would've taken longer and I don't want to keep you guys waiting for too long so that's next chapter.**

**Until next chapter, BYE BYEZ! 0_o**


	5. Explanations

"Well uh, I suppose you could take a seat if you wanted to?" Mike asked nervously, shifting from foot to foot and only stopping to take his only advice and sit down.

Both Rick and Craig followed, sitting down at the large meeting table. Meanwhile, Chell still stood, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"O-or you can stand if you want, it's completely up to you really...umm"

All three children stood there relatively bored, kicking the floorboards with their dirty bare feet, except for E.T. He was smiling at Chell hugely, his eyes were so wide that she thought they may pop out of their sockets. Chell thought he was extremely creepy.

"Do you kids wanna go upstairs and play? We have extremely important information to share, could get a bit adventurous," Rick said to the children. Suddenly, E.T. looked devastated.

"B-but space lady gotta take us to space. SPACE LADY TAKING US TO SPACE!"

"Fact: I'm sorry but Chell is not taking you or anyone else to space."

Unexpectedly the blonde child broke down into tears, sobbing loudly.

"Why are you crying?" Kitty asked, genuinely concerned.

Paul, the red-haired child put his arm around the crying boy growling softly, trying to comfort him. Kitty held his hand, giving it a squeeze and led him upstairs. They exited the room quickly.

"Sorry 'bout that partner," Rick said, "The kid's sensitive, 'twasn't your fault sweet cheeks."

Chell managed to hide her blush. It was one thing when he was a core, but now it made her feel a little bashful.

"Okay, so with the story... Well, as you know we came from Aperture too, we uh were employees before...," Mike gestured to his hair and wires, then to his orange jumpsuit. "A-and Aperture, it was running low on money after their CEO died and they could hardly afford to pay their employees, let alone all their bills, so they took some of their employees and their children, against their will and they... They changed them. They changed everything about them. They took away their memories, they modified their personality so much, they changed their hair colours... I betcha see where I'm going with this now."

Some where between the beginning and end of him explaining things, she had found herself perched on the chair that she had earlier refused to sit on.

"Well uh if you didn't catch on to what I was saying before it _was_ us. We were forced to work, with no pay and no sleep. Just work, work and more work really. Bloody hard I might add. So anyway, I was an engineer, I designed stuff and made it. Was veeery good at it. The scientists always said things like 'Employee #2 You have done an adequate job' Never said that to other people! Oonly me... Little 'Ol Mikey here...Yep...the best bloody engineer aroun-"

"Why don't ya shut up and get on with the story!"

"Okay, okay steady on. So I was an engineer and Rick was a test observer, wrote down test results aaand Craig was a intelligence holder, so that if any enemy of Aperture was looking for new plans or something they wouldn't find it because it was all in his brain. That's also why he has more wires than the rest of us. He's the reason we know our names as well. We were registered in the Aperture data banks so he could easily find us there, the kids however were not. Those kids... They could be ours, they could be someone else's, doesn't really matter now."

Craig coughed loudly to let Mike know that he was going a bit off-topic.

"Well one day I found out that they were building this massive AI, bloody big deal to all the scientists but we weren't involved in its creation. So one day they took us to a room with nothing but chairs and they sat us all down. And apparently, according to Craig our personalities were uploaded into some sort of spherical AIs built to regulate the behaviour of it or something. We didn't know all of this of course, we just woke up and got told that we needed to go work again. I think you met one of our sphere

"So we had all met each other a few times, walking around the facility on jobs. So we thought of a plan and got everyone involved. Brilliant plan that was, and then we-...," Mike went silent and looked upset.

Rick piped up, "Then we escaped. Helluva lot of danger, but I tell ya I saved everyone's lives with my bravery,"

Mike looked annoyed, but thankful for covering him.

**What was their secret?**

Chell squinted at them suspiciously.

"W-We all worked together to achieve freedom. And yes, it was bloody hard, we all had to make sacrifices, but we worked through it together, as a family. We stayed here because we wanted to help whoever came out of Aperture alive and here you are! You can stay here as long as you like, until you want to go explore the world outside of Aperture. Just be careful of those pesky villagers who want us dead, thank you for helping me back there by the way. So Chell, welcome to the family!"

The strange thing was, that she actually believed them. She believed every word that had just come out of Mike's mouth. She didn't know why, maybe because she didn't think he could lie that well (seeing he was almost identical to Wheatley) or maybe it was the simple fact that they were standing here as humans. Either way, she had a plan.

Six gullible humans. Six humans who could trust her if she could win them over. Six humans who were fit and able, able to test that is. Six humans who would help her get her freedom.

**Do you hear that GLaDOS? I'm not going to die today, tomorrow or any other day. These humans are going to win me my freedom!**


	6. The Battle of the CartWheels

_**A/N**_

_****_**Hey guys, I'm so sorry I haven't updated my stories a lot lately. You'd think that for making you wait I'd make this chapter longer right? Wrong. It's sort of a filler chapter, I need quite a few of these before the next plot twist. I'll try and update quicker from now on... Oh and can someone post on my forum? It's gathering dust.**

* * *

><p>Chell sighed silently, letting the cold water slide uncomfortably down her naked body. As Mike had explained, when they had escaped Aperture they had found this place abandoned. The good side of this was they didn't have to pay any bills. The not so good side? They had no hot water. Te only reason they had electricity was because of the solar panels attached to the ceiling that Mike had made<p>

She rubbed her fingers through her thick black hair tenderly, trying to at least get out some of the dirt and grime. Oil stiffened the split ends of the matted mess and she didn't even want to _know_ what that green, gooey stuff was.

After the shower she was planning on going straight to bed before Rick insisted she had dinner. Eating had never actually crossed her mind as she had never eaten, or felt the need to eat food at Aperture. She had a sneaky suspicion that GLaDOS had put something other than adrenal vapour in the air, but she couldn't be sure.

Seeing as Mike had failed to get any food that day, Craig had explained, they now had to use food from their home made garden that Craig himself had made. Tonight they were having roast potato.

Chell smiled as she stepped out of the shower and got dressed back into her jumpsuit. She had written a question to the three boys to ask if they had any clothes that would fit her and in return they simply looked at each other knowingly and shook their heads.

She still didn't trust them but she would have to make an exception if she wanted them to trust her. Chell still didn't have a definite plan of how to get them all to follow her into Aperture but she had a few weeks to think of one.

Chell put on her long fall boots on swiftly and opened the bathroom door leading onto the kitchen. Surprisingly there was no one there, only the faint smell of potatoes roasting in the air. She heard the faint sound of laughter from behind a closed door, presumingly leading out to the back porch.

She pushed the door open and stepped out onto the small rickety balcony. The giggling was coming from in front of the balcony which was the garden, where Kitty was attempting to do a cartwheel.

"Hey Rick! Can you look at me?" She called to a laid-back Rick, sitting on an ancient deck chair next to Mike. Chell noticed that Craig was absent. She showed him an obviously unpractised cartwheel ending with her falling on her butt.

"That's great sweet-heart!" He drawled lazily.

Kitty stumbled and fell on the ground again, laughing her head off and Paul sat next to her and laughed a rough, deep laugh too. Meanwhile, E.T. was running circles around them.

"SPACE-WHEEL!"

"Hey Rick, can you show us how to do a 'Space'-Wheel properly?" Kitty called.

"Sorry darlin'. Savin' my energy for somethin' important. Y'know something life threatening and adventurous."

"Awww..."

"Grrrarr" The red haired boy growled to Kitty and pointed at Mike.

"Paul says that you should come do a cart-wheel Mikey!" Kitty said and for the first time it wasn't a question.

"Eh?" He said "Why not? I'll give it a go," Mike jumped over the balcony rail and onto the long grass of the garden, "You'll be impressed by this. Ready?"

All three children nodded their heads. With that, Mike put his hands to the ground and fell flat on his back. Everyone, including Mike himself laughed. Kitty squealed and imitated Mike by falling on the ground next to him. Soon, everyone was a tangled giggling mess, squealing and laughing in joy.

Chell envied their innocence and how carefree they all were. She however was stuck as a test subject without any past to fall back on, only waiting for a better future to come.

Mike, still on the ground, noticed her standing up on the porch

"Hey, you wanna come show us all how to do a cart-wheel?" He grinned.

Chell didn't want to, but she reluctantly walked down the wooden stairs. She had to earn their trust and if that meant doing a cart-wheel, so be it.

She poised herself next to them, knowing the basic idea of what a cart-wheel was supposed to look like. She bent down and did a perfect cart-wheel, her short legs straightening mid-air in an arch. She landed on her feet gracefully with a small smile on her face. It was strangely satisfactory...She could even say... Fun?

"That was great," Mike said, his hands behind his head on the grass, "Now try doing it _without _the long-fall boots,"

**Huh? How does he know about the long-fall boots? Well I guess he worked at Aperture before so mayb-**

"I invented them you know," He said proudly, while she took off her boots, "Y'know you don't have to do it again I was joking...umm."

She got in position again. She wasn't going to give up now. Her pride was at stake.

She bent down once again and her let her legs go their own way, but before she could touch the ground she felt a hand on her ankle pulling her down, and before she knew it she was lying on the ground next to a pissing-himself-laughing Mike and a bunch of giggling children.

As annoyed as Chell was, she couldn't help but laugh a little too. Who said she couldn't have fun while she was here?

**-O-**

That night they had roast potatoes. Not one of the multicoloured members of the gang knew why she was stabbing it with her fork furiously, but Chell did... And so did GLaDOS.


	7. Can there be a happily ever after?

A week had passed. A boring week full of nothing but sitting around and plotting, well at least Chell thought it was extremely boring. She did not know how GLaDOS did it. It required time and thinking, that was for sure, which of course GLaDOS did have seeing as she was a robot.

Rick had given her a book that he had found to her as a present, which was what she was using to write down her plan and at long last she had finally got it!

She would teach them how to hunt for meat and when the time was right she would lure them to the Aperture trash heap where GLaDOS had threw her out. If they recognized it she would quickly write that she had seen a specific animal there….. A deer!

Satisfied with her plan she walked down the stairs and into the dining room. She would start teaching them to hunt immediately.

Very few of the group doubted her proposition. In fact Rick was excited that he finally got to show off his adventurous skills. She had decided that she was going to take Rick and Mike with her seeing as they were the strongest and the most mature. She immediately took back her thought about maturity when Rick began to tell the kids a most probably fake story and began to kiss his non-existent muscles.

They had an hour to prepare. Rick gathered up a few decorative swords that the previous owners of the house had left behind. It turns out they were quite sharp. As Chell examined the swords she felt a tug on her jumpsuit sleeve. It was Paul.

"Grrr arghhh rrrr," Paul said. Chell looked at him confused.

He pointed to her notepad and pen. She gave it to him reluctantly.

As he wrote Chell thought.

**We're both mute in our own ways. He's more alike me than anyone else.**

Chell couldn't help but feel slightly close to him, which is something she certainly did not want to do, as they would become GLaDOS's test subjects in a matter of weeks.

He finished his writing with a full stop and Chell read what was scrawled on the piece of paper.

It read: _ leT Me gO hUntIng wIth yOu pLeas?_

Chell smiled and shook her head sadly. She couldn't risk losing one of them now. Paul looked disappointed, betrayed even and ran off to his room.

Chell sighed and picked up a sword. It was going to be a long day of hunting.

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><p>It was when they were halfway through the forest that Mike spoke up.<p>

"You know, you don't need me… I mean why would you need me you have Rick an-and. Uhhh, is that a spider? Nope that's not a spider, it's just a berry shaped like a spider. Umm as I was saying, I better leave because I have to take care of something…"

Rick trekked on forward, not bothering to look back at Mike. "What do you need to take care of you idiot?"

"Uhhh my… Pony farm?"

Chell ignored them both as she saw her first prey. A wild turkey. She snuck up slowly, being careful not to make any noise as she got her sword ready. Unfortunately, at that moment she tripped on a vine and fell face first onto the forest floor. So much for her long fall boots. Embarrassed but relatively unscathed she was about to pull herself up but felt a slow slithering on her back. She looked over her shoulder and saw the flash of fangs. A snake.

If she could've screamed, she probably would've. Calmly, she checked over her shoulder to see if she could find Mike or Rick. They were nowhere to be seen.

She panicked quietly as the snake made its way to her head. Suddenly, she felt a gust of wind above her and the weight of the snake being lifted from her back.

She looked up to see the snake's dead body stuck to a tree to the right of her by a sword.

She looked to her left to see her savior. It was Paul.

Chell got up and hugged him tightly. He had saved her life… And hunted dinner? In his other hand he held the turkey she had spied earlier.

Despite the odds, she didn't think she could help but be his friend.

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><p>That night, after her freezing cold shower, Chell was headed to her room when she heard a small voice coming from the kids shared room. It was Kitty's voice.<p>

"Chelley? Can you write us a bedtime story?"

Before Chell could do or write anything in response, Rick walked up the stairs.

"Maybe some other night hun, Chell is ve-"

Chell shook her head furiously, she would do it. She wanted to. She walked in to see them all tucked in and cozy, waiting for their story. So she wrote it.

_Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so far away there lived a Queen. This Queen was very evil and forced her servants to do her bidding. In the process of the most difficult tasks, most died. Until there was just one servant left. The Queen had one last task, the hardest, for her one servant. Her task was to find some gems. Not just regular gems, but the most magical gems in the land. She travelled long and hard to find them, and when she found them she knew it would be hard to let them go. They were all the colours of the rainbow. How was she going to get them back to the Queen?_

After they read the story Kitty piped up, "How did she get them back to the Queen, Chell?"

But Chell couldn't answer honestly, because she didn't know herself. How was she going to get them back to the Queen?

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><p><strong><em>AN_**

**__Hey guys, I'm soooooooooooo sorry for my hiatus. I think I got writers block :P Will try to update quicker!**


	8. Beautiful Monster of a Woman

It was just a normal day for Chell. Soon she would go hunting with Mike and Rick who had gradually gotten braver.

Weeks were passing like days, because before she knew it, it was the second week and almost time to put her devious plan into action. She had them wrapped around her finger, and Chell wasn't sure she liked the feeling.

Actually liking them was never part of her master plan but nevertheless, it had happened. She didn't have a choice over what she felt.

Chell looked up from polishing her shiny sword to where the kids and Mike were playing hopscotch in the yard. Sticks arranged into the shape of lines that would usually be drawn by chalk. Chell didn't even know how she knew what chalk or hopscotch was. Perhaps she had played it once?

Chell looked enviously at Mike. She could never make the kids happy like he could. Realising Chell was watching him he acted cool. He smiled up at her flirtaciously, flicking his hair off his face and not concentrating as Paul hopped over to Mike and knocked him over. Chell blushed furiously and turned her head back to her sword.

_I think he got the wrong idea from me staring at him for that long... _She thought.

Anyway, later she would take them hunting the Aperture junkyard to complete her goal. To bring them back to Aperture.

_I hope they'll go willin-_

There was a massive explosion.

Chell looked around suddenly to see destruction.

A giant crater in the yard, a horrifed Mike, a wide eyed Kitty and E.T. and half the yard up in flames. No Paul. Something had fallen from the sky.

Rick and Chell both burst out into the yard at the same time. Chell put two and two together. No Paul and a crater. Paul was in there!

"PAUL NO!" Kitty screamed teary eyes, running towards the inferno surrounding the crater and falling onto her small knees.

Rick picked her up and held her to his chest surpressing tears himself.

"He's gone darlin,'" Rick mumbled, almost in tears.

"NO! HE CAN'T BE! WHY?!"

Kitty, kicked and punched Rick weakly, trying to escape from his grip and rescue the long gone Paul, but to no avail.

Chell stared at the fire. She couldn't move, she couldn't even think. This was what had become of Paul, the boy with fire in his hair and fire in his heart. The boy that had saved her life. The boy that had become her best friend. Never had she seen such a cruel and painful death come to someone so innocent and good.

E.T. wanted to say something meaningful, he wanted to comfort Kitty, he wanted to mourn Paul. He didn't want to say something about goddamned space for once. He punched a tree that was next to him and tears formed in his eyes.

"H-He's up there, in space now..." E.T. murmured.

Everyone nodded solemnly and Kitty stopped struggling.

E.T. took her hand and led her back into the house. Craig followed.

"W-well" Rick said taking his hat off, "I suppose I better bury him," His voice was so quiet they could barely hear them

Chell wouldn't let a tear slip from her eye. She covered her hands over her eyes to stop herself from crying. He wouldn't of wanted that for her... Every breath was laboured, every thought was painful, because it was about him.

Suddenly, she felt strong hands pull her into an embrace. She heard soft sobbing and saw a flash of blue hair, and knew that Mike was on her side.

He released her and Chell looked sidelong into his teary eyes. He held her hand, gave her a brave smile and led her back into the house. She had Mike, and he was all she need to be strong.

Chell sat down on the cliff face at the end of the forest, miles away from the house, watching the red sunset sky, and the pink cotton-candy clouds. How could the sun still shine so happily like that after all that had happened? The sky mocked Paul. It didn't care about his brutal death, it simply didn't care.

How was she supposed to get them to Aperture now? Everyone was too depressed and Chell personally didn't think she was even up to the task...

Rick was in the process of locating Paul's broken, burnt, frail body, which was probably lying somewhere covered in ash and dirt.

Chell wondered what his last thoughts were. She really hoped they were happy, carefree thoughts full of love for his friends.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the crack of a twig from behind her. It was Rick.

"Honey," He said running his hands through his dark green hair, "I think you better see this,"

She had followed him quickly to the burnt backyard and the infamous crater and he gestured for Chell to go down there and reassured her that it was just something she might want to see.

She climbed down, it was deeper than she had imagined and her foot tripped on rubble several times.

When she reached the bottom she saw something that she didn't think she'd see ever again.

The rusty sphere, had one handle bar, weakly attached to one socket, sparks flew out of the other. The core had long since lost its silvery shine and its optic was closed. Dead.

Chell skidded to its side and stared at it numbly. It had only been two weeks, how could this happen to him in such a small amount of time. She put a hand on the battered core and jumped when the optic opened.

Through the blue crack of an eyepiece, Wheatley recognised her at once.

"I-It's you!" His optic widened to reveal a pattern of shatters and cracks, his voice sounding crackly, like it was coming from an old radio.

"I've wait-wait-waited so many years..." His speech skipped.

What did he mean many years? It had only been two weeks. Two weeks! Chell decided she would find out what he meant, after she got Mike to repair him.

She moved her hand over the side of his frame soothingly. Sure he had betrayed her and he had tried to kill her, but Wheatley was a sentient being, and no one, not even a murderous AI, deserved to feel the pain that Chell suspected he was feeling.

"I've waited years just to tell you th-that..." His voice faltered, as if he had forgotten the correct words, "I'm sorry," He said simply.

And to Chell, that meant the world. She had to save him.

Wheatley, although in immense pain could still ramble on, "A-and I know it won't make a difference and you still hate me bu-" Chell held her notepad at his eye hoping with her life that he could read.

_I forgive you_

The light was draining from his optic and Chell knew she had to fix him quickly.

"Y-y-y-you forgive me..." He managed his metal eyelids into the happiest smile an AI had ever smiled, "Thank...You..." His optic drifted closed

Chell shook her head. No... No! She had to keep him awake! She shook his frame and his eye opened again.

"Y-You can't stop it love... I'm dying. But I'm dying happy, see? Because you... you beautiful monster of a woman, you forgive me..."

Chell could see the life draining out of his core, and what broke her heart most was that she couldn't save him.

"O-One last request... Y-Your name... What is-is-is your name?"

She wrote it in a heartbeat.

_Chell_

"Chell..." His optic closed once more, "Thank you Chell..."

And she knew he was gone.

But not before he uttered his last words.

"I-I love you"

Chell, who was still knelt next to the lifeless sphere, put her head in her hands and did something that she hadn't done for a long time. Something that she never did in Aperture when she was injured, in agony, devoid of any other feeling but hate. Something that she never did when she was betrayed, abandoned and left to die.

Chell put her head in her hands and cried.


End file.
